Film gate and feeding device



Oct. 22, 1940.l

J. l:vn-tm FILM GATE AND FEEDJgNG DEVICE Fild Feb. g4, 1939z'sheefs-sneez- 1 vont '22, 1940. .'1. MERY 2,218,763

FILM GATE IND FEEDING DEVICE K l File'dr Feb. 24, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2l i i i i i i i .l lI i l I. i .l l i Patented' oct. 22, 1940 UNITEDSTATES 2,218,763 GATE AND FEEDING DEVICE Jean Mry, Epinay-sur- Seine,France Application February 24, 1939, Serial Nm 258,321 In France March30, 1938l 9 claims. (ci. sai-18,4)

'I'he present invention has for its objects improvements in motionpicture cameras to obtain a mechanism of reduced dimensions satisfyingall desirable conditions: advance of the lm during a period which isshort relatively to the period during which it is atrest, progressivedriving and stoppage avoiding the mutilation of the perforations,accurate andsilent control .of the drivi g and registration claws,guiding of the lm av ding all lateral play in the gate, easy dismantlingand cleaning of the gate, easy placing in position and registering ofthe illm, possibility of lsimultaneously and instantaneously moving thetransparent prism and the ground glass prism Vevery 5 time focussing isnecessary.

The characteristic arrangement of an apparay Fig. 2 is a plan viewpartly in section made according to the broken line II-II of Fig. 1, thenlm being removed.

Fig. ..3 is a vertical section made according to N the broken lineIII-III of Fig. 1, without the nlm in the upper or normal position.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the same members in the lower or focussingposition.

Fig. 6 is a'partial vertical section made according to line VI-VI ofFig. 2, the mechanical control of the registration claw beingdisengaged.

Fig. "I is a vertical section made according to 4p line VlI-VII of Fig.2.

- .The mechanism illustrated is located as usual on the left side of acamera two walls' of which are designated by A and B. The path followedby the nlm I is indicated in Fig.V 1; said film issuing from the supplymagazine placed at C, is moved along by a toothed drum 2 and led, byrolls 3 into a gate l, then it returns to the drum 2 and to thereceiving magazine located at D;4

during thispath it forms two loops E and F on l0 either side of thegate. A

The intermittent displacement of the lm through the gate I is producedvby a claw4 5 the point of which engages in one oi its perforations,lowers according to the height of an image, retracts, rises and beginsagain. and so on; each Fig. 4 is a partial elevation showing both prismstime the iilm is disengaged by said claw, it is held stationary by aclaw 6, so-calledregistration claw" which engages in anotherperforation. The claw 5 consists in a rod terminated by an eye I whichis .mounted with slight friction on a 5 spindle or crank-pin 8 rigidwith a plate 9 secured on a control shaft I0. Said rod slides with somefriction through a barrel II provided with two trunnions I2, I3 whichallow it to rock about a horizontal axis in a support I4 secured to the1o wall B. Said barrel II is extended towards the right by a kind oi'fork constituted by two prongs vLi and IIiA arranged in diierentvertical planes;

these prongs respectively bear, by their plane and trued inner facesagainst the top of a milled wheel I1 and against 'the bottom of a milledwheel I8, both mounted on the crank-pin 8 on either 'side ofthe eye 1 ofthe claw.

The plate rotating in the direction of the arrow f, its crank-pinimparts to the claw 5 a recipro- 20 eating oscillating movement suchthat the front end of said claw engages in-a perforation of the filmwhen the crank-pin! has passed the point a of the circumferencel itdescribes, it then lowers and draws along the nlm, then disengages from'the latter before reaching the point b,. and iinally rises to its'initial position while the crank-pin returns to a. It will be seen thatthe arc of circle v of the fork I5, I6V it is possible to obtain a veryaccurate adjustment of the friction surfaces and to avoid all noise ofthe mechanism in operation, which is essential for taking sound films.

The gate I is formed, on one side, by an aperture plate I9 securedbyscrews to the wall A and, on the opposite side bya door composed oftwo members 20 and 2| placed one above the other and connected by a.hinged joint which allows the upper member 2l to be swung or folded down50 horizontally, as shown in Fig. 5, with .the'various elements itsupports. A

The memberv 20Ais constituted by'a plate provided with a rectangular.opening 22 and carrying. at its' lower part. two hinge members 23 be-'Il tween which is engaged a similar member 24 rigid with the lowerplate 2|. These hinge m'embers are threaded with slight friction on apin 25 rigidly secured to the wall B, so that vthe unit formed by thedoor 29, 2| and the members it supports, can be easily removed andreplaced in position, for instance for allowing the inner walls of thegate to be cleaned. 'I'he member 24 is preferably assembled with themembers 23 by a circular jointing so thatl the parts 29 and 2| remainAassembled even when they are removed from the pin 25.

Whe'n this door is placed in position, theposition of its lower member2i is ensured by the engagement'of a perforated lug 25 rigid therewith,on a claw 21 secured to the wall B so that the required interval betweenthe parts I9 and 2| is exactly maintained.

The member 29 carries a kind of rectangular box constituted by twouprights 29, 29, two stays 39, 3| and a plate 32 comprising arectangular opening located opposite the opening `22; these two openingsreceive the pressing frame 33 which serves'to press the film against theedges of the opening 34 perforated in the platen I9 and in the wall A,this frame is capable of sliding in said ,59provided in the wall'B.

openings according tothe direction of the optical axis X-X. A L

0n the opposite sides of the frame 33 are secured two Journals 35 onwhich are pivoted the branches 36 of a yoke housed within theframecarrying box 29, 29, 29, 39, 3|, 32. 'I'his yoke comprises a crossmember 31 pivoting, by means of two Journals 39, in the' uprights 29, 29and carrying, in addition to the branches 35, a longer arm 39 acting ,asa lever for exerting the pressure on the frame at the required moment.

This lever vis controlled by the registration vclaw 9 and carries, forthat purpose, at itslower end, a. lug 4| on which acts, by a thrust, anose 42 rigid with said claw.. When the lever 39'ceases to be pushed bythe nose 42, it is urged to-move away from the plate 29, by a ilatspring 43 secured to the latter, so that the pressing frame thenslightly moves away'from the film.

The front-branch 29 of the frame-carrying box supports a lock or flat.bolt 44 which vertically 'slides on two screws 45 secured to said branchand which is normally urged downwardly by the action of a spring 46 soas to engage in a notch 41 formed in the ,iixed pin 25. Consequently,once the door 29, 2| is completely threaded on said pin, the lockautomatically engages in the notch 41 and maintains the door inposition.

'I'hevupper part of the latter is held in vertical position due to the.l fact that the rear -branch 29 is pushed towardsfthe wallA by ac1aw49rigid with a slide-block 49 guided in vertical slideway 'I'his upperpart ofthe broken door moreover supports-'a transparent prism 5|-serving to reilect the luminous rays at right angles relatively to theaxis X-X; this prism is housed in a casing 52 secured behind the plate32. Finally, on this casing are pivoted, at'453, the horizontal branches54' of a yoke serving to guide, bymeans of'its which slightly projectson thefront side of the gate 4, between the aperture plate `and themember 23. This yoke is, in fact,'-subjectedA to the action of springs59 attached to claws 51v rigid with the branches 54 and t' lugs59'secured to ,the'plate 32,'so that the cross member 5.5,' 'made ofhardened steel. slightly pressesV against the front edge of the film,thus holding the rear edge of the latter constantly pressed against thebottom of the gate 4. i

Thelm is then guided without any lateral play, and is slightly braked,and the images obtained are uniformly disposed in the lateral direction.

'I'he position of the springs 59 is chosen in such a manner that if theyoke 54, 55I is moved about the pivots 53 by seizing it by the claws 51,it can be caused to pivot approximately through a halfrvolution and bedisengaged, without it` returning back.y against an abutment 59 securedon the casing 52 of the prism 5|. The entrance of the gate. is thus freefor the introduction of the illm; once the latter is placed in position,it sumces to bringthe yoke back by again seizing it by its claws 51.

The uprights`29, 29 also support at their upper end the journals oi' aroll 99 serving to guide the loop E of the film.

The unit composed of the plate 29 and all the members it carries; boxand pressing frame, yoke for the suspension of said frame, trippinglock, prism 5|, lateral lguiding yoke and roll 99 can be folded downhorizontally (Fig. 5) about the pin of the hinge 23, 24.

This foldingdown movement is automatically produced by the downward'movement of the slide-block 49 in the slideway 59, said'downwardmovement being controlled by the'operator, for instance by means of apinion (not shown) rigid with a milled knob and meshing with a part ofthe slide-block forming a rack. w

The vrear branch 29 is provided, in fact, with a projecting part 6| cutout so asto form inclines c d e on which acts the claw 49 when ymovingvertically, and it will be seen that, by lowering, this claw leaves thevertical incline c and presses against the incline d, thus compellingthe upper part oi' the door to rock downwardly to the horizontalposition- (Fig. 5) it then leaves the incline d and can llower stillfarther until aground glass prism 62 housed in a casing 93 secured tothe slide-block 49 has exactly taken `the place lpreviously occupied bythe prism 5| tion. During these rocking movements, the lu'g 4| 1 of thelever 39,-cut concentrically with the pin of the hinge 23, 24, slidesagainst the nose 42 of the registrationclaw 9. which has a correspond-'I'he control of said claw will now be indicated, which claw must engagein a perforation' of the film while the claw 5 disengages therefrom,and,

'Ion the. contrary, must disengage from the film when theclaw 5- isengaged therewith.

The claw l is guided through two bearings 94 and 95 secured to the wallB and 'is connected by a double link n to a plate .n mounted ons shaft34 which receives 'a slight rocking movelment at the-.required moments,for instance,A by the action of cams (notshown) carried by themainshatt-ll.

'.holding the door stationary inits normal posi- Independently of thismechanical control; the device comprises a hand control for disengagingthe plate 61 from the shaft 66 and causing 'it to rock at will, so thatthe simultaneous disengagement of both claws 5 and 6 from the gate 4 canbe obtained each time it is desired to introduce a film therein or toremove a film from said gate. For that purpose, the plate 61 is freelymounted on the shaft pinned on the latter and the base 10 of a longmilled knob 1| which can rotate and slide freely and which is pushedtowards the plate 61 by a spring 12 taking a bearing on a screw 13secured on the end of the shaft. The base 10 carries two claws 14 whichare normally engaged in holes 15 and 16 formed in the members 61 and 69,thus rendering the knob 1I and the plate 61 rigid with the plate 69 andconsequently with the shaft 68; the claw 6 is then actuatedmechanically.

When the mechanism of the apparatus is stopped, care being taken torotate the shaft 1.0 to a position in which the claw 5 is disengagedfrom the gate 4, the plate 61 can be released from the plate 69bypulling the knob 1| so as to disengage the claws 14 from the holes 16,butleaving them engaged in the holes 15; by then rotating the knobslightly in the direction of the arrow f1, the claw 6 is disengagedfrom. the gate 4.

This rotation is limited owing to the fact that the base 10 abutsagainst the head of a screw 11 secured to the wall B, so that there isno danger of the claw 6 becomingdisengaged from the bearing 64.

The gate 4 is thus simultaneouslyfreed from both claws 5 and 6. The knob1I can moreover be released, its stability being ensured by the claws 14bearing 69 (Fig. 6).

When the used lm has been removed from the gate and a new film has beenintroduced therein in its place, it suffices to slightly rotate the knob1I rearwardlyfor causing the claws 14 to fall back into the holes 16andagain coupling the mechanical control of the claws.

However, before setting the mechanism in action, it is necessary toadjust the position of the new film in the gate 4 so that the claws 5and 6 can exactly enter the perforations without any risk whatever ofdamaging the film. For that purpose, on the wall A, below the entranceof the gate, outside the normal path followed by the film (loop F) aclaw 18 is provided on'which a perforation is engaged; the position ofthis reference claw is suitably determined relatively to the positionsin which the claws 5 and 6 enter and leave the perforations.

The mechanism is then manipulated so as to engage the registration claw6 in the perforation corresponding to it, the film is disengaged fromthe reference claw 18 and the apparatus can then be set in action.

It is to be noted that if an inattentive operator has forgotten toengage the claw 6 in the film, by actuating the knob 1 I, the plate 61will neverthelessA be automatically coupled with the plate 69 as soon asthe mechanism is set in action; in fact, the holes 16 of said plate willbe opposite the claws 14, the base 10 being pressed against the head ofthe screw 11, the spring 12 will cause the claws to enter said holes 16and the base 10 restored opposite the body of the screw 11 will again befree to rockwith the plate 61, the plate 69 and the shaft 66.

It is to be understood that -the invention is not limited to theconstructional details illustrated 68, between a plate 69.

on the solid parts of the plate `a plate perforated and that it includesin its scope all the modifications based on the same principles 'orusing the same characteristic arrangements either in com-` bination orseparately.

I claim: 5

1. A motion picture camera comprising walls, an aperture plate securedto one of said walls, a door arranged to form with said plate a guidefor a cinematographic film, said door including two members placed oneabove the other and 1 connected by a pivotal joint whereby the uppermember may be swung downwardly to horizontal position said upper memberbeing constituted by a plate in which is provided a rectangular openingand which carries at the lower part two 1 hinge members engaged in ahinge member rigid with said lower member, said hinge members beingfitted with slight friction on a pin rigidly secured to another of saidwalls and the hinge member of the lower member being assembled 2 withone of the hinge members of the upper member by a circular jointing.

2. A motion picture camera comprising walls, an aperture plate securedto one of'said walls, a door arranged to form with said plate a guide 2for a cinematographic film, said door including two members placed oneabovethe other and connected by a pivotal joint whereby the upper membermay be swung downwardly to horizontal position the upper by a plate inwhich is provided a rectangular opening, a box-like part carried by theupper member including two uprights, two stays and a plate having arectangular opening located opposite the opening of said upper member,and a pressing frame housed within the opening of said plate and soarranged as to slide in the direction of the optical axis.

3. A motion picture camera comprising walls,

member being constituted 30 an aperture plate secured to one of saidwalls, a 40 member may be swung downwardly to horizontal 45 position theupper member being constituted by a platein' which is provided arectangular opening, a rectangular box-like part including a platehaving a rectangular opening located opposite the opening of said uppermember, a pressing 5 frame housed within said-plate and on two oppositesides of which are secured two journals on which are pivoted thebranches of a yoke housed within the frame-carrying box-like part andcomprising a cross two journals, rigid with said box, and a lever longerthan said branches and arranged to exert a pressure on said pressingframe, a registration claw arranged to engage in the perforations memberpivotally mounted on 55 of the lm to hold it stationary after each for-60 ward movement and means on said claw for condoor arranged to formwith said plate a guide 66 for a cinematographic film, said doorincluding two members placed one above the other and connected by apivotal joint whereby the upper member may be. swung downwardly tohorizontal position the upper with a rectangular opening carrying arectang'fular box-like part constituted by two uprights, two stays and aplate having ay rectangular opening located opposite the opening memberbeing constituted by 70 of said upper member, a spring, the frontupright 75 an aperture plate secured to one of said walls,A

\ a door arranged to form with said plate a guide for a cinematographicfilm, said door including two members placed one above the other andconnected by a pivotal joint whereby the upper member may be swungdownwardly to horizontal position, a slide-block guided in a verticalslideway provided in said wall, and a claw rigid with said slide-blockholding said upper member in vertical position.

6. A motion vpicture camera comprising walls, an aperture plate securedto one of said walls, a door arranged to form with said plate a guidefor a cinematographic film, said door including two members placed 'oneabove the other and connected by a pivotal joint whereby the uppermember may be swung downwardly to horizontal position, a transparentprism serving to reilect the luminous rays at right angles relatively tothe optical axis, and a casing secured at the rear of said upper memberhousing said prism.

7. A motion picture camera comprising walls, an aperture plate securedto one of said walls, a door arranged to form with said plate a guidefor a cinematographic illm, said door including two members placed one'above the other and connected by a pivotal joint whereby the uppermember may be swung downwardly to horizontal position, a transparentprism, a casing secured at the rear of said upper member housing' saidprism, a yoke having horizontal branches pivoted on said casing andserving to guide, by means of a vertical cross member, the edge of thefilm which slightly projects on the front side of said guidingl gate,between said aperture plate and said upper member, said yoke beingsubjected to the action of springs attached to claws rigid with saidhorizontal branches and to lugs secured to two members placed one abovethe other and connected by a pivotal joint whereby the upper ,member maybe swung downwardly to horizontal position, a shaft which receives aslight rocking. movement, a plate on said shaft. a registration claw anda double link connecting said claw to said plate.

9. A motion picture camera comprising walls, an aperture plate securedto one of said Walls, a door arranged to form with said plate a guidefor a cinematographic film, said door including two members placed oneabove the other and connected by a pivotal joint whereby the uppermember may be swung downwardly to horizontal position, a control shaft,a plate secured to said shaft, a crank pin on said plate, a claw fordriving the iilm, including in a rod terminated by an eyewhich ismounted with slight friction on said crank-pin, a barrel, said rodsliding with some friction through said barrel and the latter beingprovided with two trunnions s'o arranged as to allow said barrel to rockabout a horizontal axis, in a support secured to the wall, said barrelbeing extended rearwardly by a fork constituted by two prongs arrangedin diilerent vertical planes and respectively bearing by plane and truedinner faces against the top of a milled" wheel and against the bottom ofanother milled wheel, mounted on said crank-pin on either side of saideye of the claw. A

' .JEAN MERY.

